Chapter 187: First Day in the Old Prisoner's Ward
Chen He looks a little older and thinner than in the photo.
His hair was also shaved, and the new short stubble occasionally flashed silver under the light.
The wrinkles at the corners of the eyes and mouth are a bit deep, probably because he laughs often.
He was completely different from what He Shu had imagined. He looked like a middle-aged man who was not very successful.
The kind of extremely honest teacher who is driven to death by junior high school students who have just learned to rebel every day.
I had this feeling when I first saw the photo, and now that I've seen him in person, the feeling is even stronger.
I don’t know why, but when He Shu saw Chen He’s face for the first time, he had such a ridiculous thought.
“Are there flowers on my face?”
Chen He suddenly asked with a smile, and He Shu was suddenly startled, thinking that he had been looking at him for too long.
He Shu stood there in a daze, not knowing how to answer.
" Why were you staring at me just now?" Chen He smiled kindly: "Did you encounter any problems?"
He Shu quickly looked away: "No... I'm sorry."
"Haha, it's okay. We are all in the same cell. We should help each other. If you have any questions in the future, you can ask me."
Chen He is very kind and habitually smiles when he speaks, but this smile doesn't make people feel that he is trying to please or be deliberate.
Instead, it gives people a feeling of intimacy between elders and younger generations.
"You really look like my teacher." He Shu couldn't help but say.
Upon hearing this, Chen He raised his hand and pushed his glasses: "What did you say?"
He Shu shook his head embarrassedly, and then continued to work: "Nothing, thank you."
Chen He smiled lightly and did not ask any further questions.
After a while, the leader came over. He was a tall and thin man with very high cheekbones.
He leaned against the pile of clothes next to He Shu and looked at He Shu.
"New here, what's the crime that brought you here?"
He Shu stood up quickly: "Report..."
The line leader waved his hand: "Just sit down and talk."
"Yes." He Shu hurriedly sat down: "Yes, I killed someone by accident."
"Tell me in detail?" The line leader seemed very interested, so He Shu had no choice but to tell him what happened haltingly.
He talked about how he was tricked into coming here, how he was stopped when he wanted to leave, how he was beaten, and how he accidentally stabbed someone to death.
After saying that, He Shu tightly grasped the small scissors and said, "I really didn't mean it. They just wouldn't let me go."
"Haha, don't get excited. You haven't been sentenced to long. You look like a student, right?"
He Shu couldn't help but tear up when he heard this: "Not now. If I go to jail, the school will definitely expel me."
"Where did you go to school before?"
He Shu paused for a moment, as if he was a little ashamed: "Huaqing University."
"The Huaqing in Dadu?"
"Um…"
"Wow, I never thought that there would be a top student in our cell. He is from Huaqing University."
The line leader's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, and several people around could hear it.
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at He Shu as if they were looking at something strange.
In a place like this, college students are really scarce, especially at a nationally renowned top university.
The crime rate among poor and uneducated young people is extremely high, especially in the Nanzhan border area, where there are many ethnic minorities and educational resources are backward.
In some areas, almost every household grows poppies. The management has become stricter in recent years, and it seems that things are not so chaotic.
In the past, there were often people sneaking in from Wanta, and it was common for them to rob people on the streets and slash people with knives.
Although this situation no longer exists in recent years, drug trafficking and fraud in Wanta have resurfaced.
When people in extreme poverty see an opportunity to get rich overnight, it will arouse their most primitive desires and lead them down the path of crime.
The group with the lowest crime rate is those with higher education, and corrupt officials and people with university education are almost rare in prisons.
He Shu's words "Hua Qing" shocked everyone, even those who had never been to school had heard of it.
The line leader turned around and told the others to work quickly, then smiled at He Shu and said, "Perform well, and tell me if you have any questions."
He Shu quickly stood up and said, "Thank you, officer."
The line leader smiled at He Shu strangely, feeling that this kid must have been disciplined a lot in the detention center, so he let him continue working while he went to other places.
Chen He on the opposite side did not look at He Shu curiously like the others, but concentrated on cutting the thread.
He Shu sat back on the stool, cut a piece of thread, and secretly wiped away his tears, as if he had not yet accepted that he had gone from a favored child of heaven to a prisoner.
After working for a whole morning, at lunch time, He Shu was just like before in the prison entry team.
I didn’t dare to compete with others for a seat, so I stood at the end of the line with my plate in hand.
Here, people eat in the cafeteria, not just in one cell.
Many people who knew each other but did not live in the same room took this opportunity to sit together and chat and eat.
He Shu discovered that there seemed to be many teams here, as could be seen from where they were sitting.
The food in the prison cafeteria is much better than that in the detention center. At noon, there is a bowl of dry rice, a piece of sweet potato, and a spoonful of fried cabbage.
No matter how it tastes, at least I can eat my fill.
After He Shu finished his meal, he turned around and saw that the table was filled with prisoners wearing the same attire, and he didn't know where to eat.
He couldn't even remember the people in the same cell, and the table over at Chen He's place was already full.
Finally, He Shu saw a long table with only three people sitting at it and there was still one seat left, so he walked over with the plate.
The three men at the table just glanced at him without any reaction. He Shu sat down carefully, lowered his head and ate his meal in big mouthfuls, trying to reduce his presence as much as possible.
There is a short lunch break in the afternoon, and then we continue to work. Everything is in order, and the sanitary conditions are maintained very .
Except that there is no freedom and you have to report to go to the toilet, it is just like an ordinary factory.
The day's work ends at five in the afternoon, and then it's time to go out for some fresh air.
They can move freely in an area that is only the size of a basketball court and surrounded by iron nets.
Some people ran to the corner to smoke, some walked back and forth in the venue, and some gathered in groups of three or five to talk.
Some people even took out playing cards and played there...
As long as you don't move too much, no one will care, whether you are doing exercise or chatting or smoking.
He Shu ran slowly around the field. Physical exercise was something that he had to do no matter where he was.
As he ran, he kept scanning these people.
His eyes did not linger, but he took in almost all the movements of these people while circling around.
Chen He was standing in a corner flipping through a book. There was a prison guard next to him, chatting with him. No one knew what they were talking about, but both of them had smiles on their faces.
After the free time, we lined up to go to the bathhouse to take a shower. Ten people could go in at a time, and each person had five minutes of shower time, which was enough.
After taking a shower, they lined up to go to the cafeteria for dinner. They had steamed buns, vegetable egg drop soup, and a plate of green stuff, not sure if it was eggplant or something else. It tasted weird and He Shu couldn't tell what it was.
There was no oil in the dish and no egg drops in the soup, but there were two slices of green vegetables, which He Shu thought was pretty good.
After dinner, I go back to the cell, study for a while, and then watch TV. After watching TV, there is roll call, and then it is time to rest.
You can move freely in the cell before 9:30.
